Stjarnan have form in Scotland and Poland

Celtic face Icelandic champions Stjarnan in their opening Champions League qualifier, with the first leg just three weeks away.  Stjarnan knocked Motherwell out of the Europa League last season, by all accounts the Scottish club should have given a much better account of themselves.

It will be vastly more concerning to Ronny Deila that they went on to eliminate Lech Poznan in the next round.  Lech finished second in Poland, just two points behind our old pals Legia Warsaw, and the Polish season starts two weeks before Scotland’s, so there is nothing to be complacent about.

A three goal home defeat at the hands of Inter Milan ended Stjarnan’s European adventure, but by that stage the Icelandic fans must had expired their European budget for the season, the trip to the San Siro would have been a suitable place to bow out.

The other consequential information when we draw teams from near the Arctic Circle is that they are midseason and (from what I can make out) play on an artificial surface.

I’ve no idea what happened to Motherwell and Lech Poznan but there are no excuses for either team and there will be none for Celtic.  Let’s get the job done.